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Influence of diatom diversity on the ocean biological carbon pump

Abstract

Diatoms sustain the marine food web and contribute to the export of carbon from the surface ocean to depth. They account for about 40% of marine primary productivity and particulate carbon exported to depth as part of the biological pump. Diatoms have long been known to be abundant in turbulent, nutrient-rich waters, but observations and simulations indicate that they are dominant also in meso- and submesoscale structures such as fronts and filaments, and in the deep chlorophyll maximum. Diatoms vary widely in size, morphology and elemental composition, all of which control the quality, quantity and sinking speed of biogenic matter to depth. In particular, their silica shells provide ballast to marine snow and faecal pellets, and can help transport carbon to both the mesopelagic layer and deep ocean. Herein we show that the extent to which diatoms contribute to the export of carbon varies by diatom type, with carbon transfer modulated by the Si/C ratio of diatom cells, the thickness of the shells and their life strategies; for instance, the tendency to form aggregates or resting spores. Model simulations project a decline in the contribution of diatoms to primary production everywhere outside of the Southern Ocean. We argue that we need to understand changes in diatom diversity, life cycle and plankton interactions in a warmer and more acidic ocean in much more detail to fully assess any changes in their contribution to the biological pump.

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Fig. 1: Diatom biogeography illustrated with the results of the MIT ecosystem model.
Fig. 2: Key processes influencing the contribution of diatoms to carbon export/transfer efficiency (CE/TE) potential.
Fig. 3: Diatom lineages and their role in net primary production (NPP) and carbon export (CE) as revealed by high-throughput DNA datasets.
Fig. 4: Schematic views on the role of diatoms in the biological carbon pump in the present and future ocean.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Sébastien Hervé (IUEM) for his artwork. This study was supported by the SILICAMICS project funded by the Euromarine Consortium, the LABEX-Mer (French Government ‘Investissement d’Avenir’ programme, ANR-10-LABX-19-01) and the Région de Bretagne. S.D. and O.J. acknowledge funding from National Science Foundation (grant OCE-1434007, OCE-1259388, OCE-1048897) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NNX16AR47G). C.B. acknowledges funding from the ERC Advanced Award ‘Diatomite’, the Louis D. Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the French Government ‘Investissements d’Avenir’ programmes MEMO LIFE (ANR-10-LABX-54), PSL Research University (ANR-1253 11-IDEX-0001-02) and OCEANOMICS (ANR-11-BTBR-0008). C.B. also thanks the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study at Harvard University for a scholar’s fellowship during the 2016–2017 academic year. B.M. acknowledges funding from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche ‘BIOPSIS’ grant. This article is contribution number 65 of Tara Oceans.

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P.T. coordinated the manuscript and figures. P.T., C.B., B.M., S.D., M.G., K.L., O.A., L.B., R.D., Z.F., L.G., D.I., M.La., M.Le., & P.P. all contributed to writing the manuscript. P.T., B.M., S.D., K.L., L.B., O.J. & P.P. worked on the figures. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Paul Tréguer.

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Tréguer, P., Bowler, C., Moriceau, B. et al. Influence of diatom diversity on the ocean biological carbon pump. Nature Geosci 11, 27–37 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-017-0028-x

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